Drug agents: Cocaine trafficker used Snuggle to smuggle

These images provided by the multi-agency Uniform Drug Enforcement Strike Team show cocaine in packets that were hidden inside two condoms in a bottle of Snuggle fabric softener. Drug agents seized the drugs on Tuesday.

Published: Wednesday, September 3, 2014 at 1:35 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, September 3, 2014 at 1:35 p.m.

OCALA – Local drug agents recovered condoms filled with cocaine from a bottle of Snuggle fabric softener Tuesday and charged a 34-year-old man with trafficking the drug.

According to agents with the Unified Drug Enforcement Strike Team, they stopped a 2006 Chrysler sport utility vehicle driven by Ramon Lemus-Ortiz at Northwest 110th Avenue and Northwest 12th Place for a traffic violation.

Authorities said Ortiz appeared nervous and gave them permission to search the SUV. Officers found a black bag that contained toiletries, such as soap and toothpaste, as well as a bottle of Snuggle fabric softener.

Inside the bottle were two condoms, one of which contained 71 baggies of cocaine; the second contained 57 baggies of the drug. The cocaine, in total, weighed 73 grams, according to reports.

Ortiz told agents that a man had paid him $200 to deliver the drugs to someone at a location off County Road 326. He was arrested and charged with trafficking cocaine and was taken to the Marion County Jail. He was booked at 8:13 p.m. Tuesday and was released at 1:58 a.m. Wednesday on $20,000 bond.

The SUV was registered to Ortiz's wife and the vehicle was released to her, officials said.

Ortiz was born in Mexico. His listed address is in Walla-Walla, Washington.

He told a Star-Banner reporter that he shows horses for a living and is expected to be in Keeneland, Kentucky, to show horses in a couple of days. He said he did not know what was in the bag, which had been given to him by someone he sees often during local horse sales.

Court records show that Ortiz was arrested for possession of cocaine in November 2010. In late January 2011, the charge was dropped on the grounds that he had been deported.

The same documents indicate that Ortiz' wife sent a letter to a judge in mid-January 2011 stating that her husband had been released from the jail to U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement officials and was deported to Mexico. She added that a judge had asked for proof of deportation and for her to bring it to her husband's next court date. She said she had requested the forms but was told it could take up to three weeks to receive them.

In the letter she noted, “I am working on getting him legal to come back to the USA but that also may take months, even years.” She requested more time to get the proof as requested by the judge.

It was not immediately clear when Ortiz returned to the United States.

<p>OCALA – Local drug agents recovered condoms filled with cocaine from a bottle of Snuggle fabric softener Tuesday and charged a 34-year-old man with trafficking the drug.</p><p>According to agents with the Unified Drug Enforcement Strike Team, they stopped a 2006 Chrysler sport utility vehicle driven by Ramon Lemus-Ortiz at Northwest 110th Avenue and Northwest 12th Place for a traffic violation.</p><p>Authorities said Ortiz appeared nervous and gave them permission to search the SUV. Officers found a black bag that contained toiletries, such as soap and toothpaste, as well as a bottle of Snuggle fabric softener.</p><p>Inside the bottle were two condoms, one of which contained 71 baggies of cocaine; the second contained 57 baggies of the drug. The cocaine, in total, weighed 73 grams, according to reports.</p><p>Ortiz told agents that a man had paid him $200 to deliver the drugs to someone at a location off County Road 326. He was arrested and charged with trafficking cocaine and was taken to the Marion County Jail. He was booked at 8:13 p.m. Tuesday and was released at 1:58 a.m. Wednesday on $20,000 bond.</p><p>The SUV was registered to Ortiz's wife and the vehicle was released to her, officials said.</p><p>Ortiz was born in Mexico. His listed address is in Walla-Walla, Washington.</p><p>He told a Star-Banner reporter that he shows horses for a living and is expected to be in Keeneland, Kentucky, to show horses in a couple of days. He said he did not know what was in the bag, which had been given to him by someone he sees often during local horse sales.</p><p>Court records show that Ortiz was arrested for possession of cocaine in November 2010. In late January 2011, the charge was dropped on the grounds that he had been deported.</p><p>The same documents indicate that Ortiz' wife sent a letter to a judge in mid-January 2011 stating that her husband had been released from the jail to U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement officials and was deported to Mexico. She added that a judge had asked for proof of deportation and for her to bring it to her husband's next court date. She said she had requested the forms but was told it could take up to three weeks to receive them.</p><p>In the letter she noted, “I am working on getting him legal to come back to the USA but that also may take months, even years.” She requested more time to get the proof as requested by the judge.</p><p>It was not immediately clear when Ortiz returned to the United States.</p><p><i>Contact Austin L. Miller at 867-4118 or austin.miller@starbanner.com.</i></p>